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Thursday, October 02, 2003

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has paid great attention to establishing mosques and Islamic centers, institutes and universities in a number of non-Islamic countries all over the world. Sure that this is the most effective way to spread Islamic culture and Arabic language, the Kingdom, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, has established 210 Islamic centers in non-Islamic countries in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia. Among the biggest is King Fahd Islamic Center in Malaga, Spain, on an area of 3,848 sq. m., whose foundation stone was laid in 1998. The university-like Center embraces academic, educational, cultural, and propagatory activities.

King Fahd has donated five million US dollars for the cost of the Islamic Center in Toronto, Canada, in addition to 1.5 million US dollars annually to run the facility.

The Islamic Center in Brasilia;
King Fahd Cultural Islamic Center in Buenos Aires;
King Fahd Cultural Islamic Center in Gibraltar;
King Fahd Cultural Islamic Center in Mont La Jolly, France;
King Fahd Islamic Center in Edinburgh, Scotland
were built at the personal expense of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also contributed to the establishment of a number of Islamic centers e.g.
The Islamic Center in Geneva;
Islamic Cultural Center in Brussels;
Islamic Center in Madrid;
Islamic Center in New York;
Islamic Center in Australia;
Islamic Center in Zagreb, Croatia;
Cultural Center in London;
Islamic Center in Lisbon, Portugal;
and Islamic Center in Vienna, Austria.

In Africa, the Kingdom fully financed King Faisal Center in N’djamena, Chad, and contributed to the establishment of the Islamic Center in Abuja, Nigeria, and Islamic African Center in Khartoum, the Sudan.

In Asia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has fully financed King Fahd Islamic Center in the Maldives, Islamic Center in Tokyo and contributed to the establishment of the Saudi Indonesian Center for Islamic Studies in Indonesia.

The Kingdom has established more than 1,359 mosques abroad at a cost of SR 820 million, notably
King Fahd Mosque in Gibraltar;
Mont La Jolly Mosque in France;
King Fahd Mosque in Los Angeles;
King Fahd Mosque in Edinburgh, Scotland;
Islamic Center Mosque in Geneva, Switzerland at a cost of SR 16 million;
the 4000-worshippers-capacity Brussels Mosque at a cost of SR 20 million;
and Madrid Mosque, the biggest in the West.

Other mosques partially financed by the Kingdom included mosques in Zagreb, Lisbon, Vienna, New York, Washington, Chicago, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and 12 mosques in a number of countries in south America.

In Africa, the Islamic Solidarity Mosque was established in Mogadishu, Somalia,
four mosques in main cities in Gabon,
two mosques in Burkina Faso,
Zanzibar Mosque in Tanzania and
Grand Mosque in Senegal.

King Fahd also established a number of scholarships and academic chairs in foreign prominent universities and colleges.

We can cite King Abdul Aziz Chair for Islamic Studies at the University of California, King Fahd Chair for Islamic Sharia Studies at the College of Law at Harvard University, King Fahd Chair for Studies at the Oriental and African Studies Institute at the University of London, and Prince Naif Department for Islamic Studies at the University of Moscow.

The Kingdom also established a number of Islamic academies abroad. Among them, are the Islamic Academy in Washington at a cost of 100 million US dollars, where multinational students are taking lessons. Now it accommodates 1,200 students, of which 549 are Saudis. The rest represent 29 nationalities;

King Fahd Academy in London whose students belong to 40 nationalities;
King Fahd Academy in Moscow;
King Fahd Academy in Bonn, which cost 30 million German Marks.

A number of institutes, designed to spread Islamic culture and the Arabic language were also opened in foreign countries to serve Islamic communities in non-Muslim countries. They include the Arab Islamic Institute in Tokyo, an affiliate of the Riyadh-based Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University.

Moreover, there are several Islamic schools e.g. in South Korea where 20,000 Muslims have formed the Korea Islamic Federation. King Fahd has appropriated an annual donation worth 25,000 US dollars to the federation. There are also many Islamic institutes all over the world, most notably the Arab and Islamic Institutes in Washington, Indonesia, Ras Al Khaimah Emirate (UAE), Nouakchott (Mauritania), and Djibouti. The Institute of the History of Arab and Islamic Sciences in Frankfurt, Germany, receives an annual financial support from the Kingdom worth 15 million German Marks while the Arab World Institute in Paris receives considerable Saudi contribution to its annual budget.